Vaknin sent links to articles he has written, exposing more of what he says is taking place inside the corridors of power. The linked headlines will take you to the full articles which, unless otherwise noted, were written by Vaknin in 2009. I invite you to read them and draw your own conclusions.

Israel, Obama, Iran, and Journalism
“During Netanyahu’s visit, Israel shared intelligence with the CIA regarding the potential for a terrorist attack which will dwarf 9/11 if Iran is allowed to continue with its nuclear designs and share its outcomes with allies such as Hamas and the Hizbullah. Iranian proliferation is a direct threat to US National security.

Obama’s staff is ignoring the intel (HUMINT) because they believe that it is intended to manipulate the Administration into accepting Israel’s planned bombing of two facilities in Iran.

They are also ignoring intel regarding a Hamas cell in Cairo that is bent on mischief. The Israelis are shunned. The CIA is exasperated.”

***

Preparations for Attack on Iran Almost Complete
Late last year, Israel embarked on a coordinated campaign of leaks to the press regarding its determination to take out Iran’s nuclear facilities if Obama’s then-new administration fails to sway the Iranians diplomatically. Israel is unwilling to accept a nuclear Iran: “It is not an option”, say its senior intelligence and military leadership.

On January 20, 2009, I appeared as a guest in the most popular political affairs program in Macedonia (“Glasot na Narodot”, or The Voice of the People). I warned that Israel is willing to wait 6 to 8 months for Obama’s “diplomacy” with regards to Iran’s nuclear capability to show some progress. If Iran remains recalcitrant, Israel plans to bomb two facilities in Iran as it did in Iraq in 1981, I said. Refueling won’t be a problem, I assured the program’s host, Slobodan Tomic: both Egypt and Saudi-Arabia offered to help.

***

Attack on Iran to Include Ground Forces
An eventual attack on Iran may include ground forces. Units of Sayeret Matka”l (“Headquarters Scouts”, Israel’s elite special forces) have been transferred to the mock in Biq’at Hayareach (“Moon Vale”), not far from Eilat. They have spent the last few weeks training there: parachuting, paragliding, urban warfare (laba”b in Hebrew), and hand to hand combat. Special emphasis is placed on explosives. The area is isolated (it got its name from its eerie similarity to the moonscape), but various civilian suppliers have reported massive explosions during the day.

In my previous article, titled “Preparations for Attack in Iran Almost Complete” (dated July 10), I revealed the existence of the training mock near Eilat and Aqaba by the Red Sea. A few days later, Israel made the presence of its Navy in the Red Sea public. Though it has not been a secret hitherto, it has hardly been trumpeted. The navy’s role is support the mission with sea-launched precision cruise missiles (of Israeli manufacture). In general, Israel is trying to minimize the involvement of American materiel in its forthcoming foray into Iran.

***

Attack on Iran: Rift in the Military and the Role of Commandos
The targets for Israel’s attack on Iran have been chosen: one is close to the sea, the other is inland. Members of Sayeret Matka”l are now conducting joint (often nightly) exercises with Israel’s Navy SEALS (the “Shayetet”) off the coast of Ashkelon and on the beaches of Haifa. While the deployment of the commandos and other ground forces will be done mostly by air, their evacuation, 4-6 hours later, will be accomplished by sea.

The role of the commandoes was re-defined last week to exclude the kidnapping of Iranian scientists. This change in operational goals followed a row among the upper echelons of Israel’s military and intelligence community. Now, Israel’s elite warriors are merely to return with soil samples and equipment from the facilities in the wake of the aerial bombardment. They are also to mine the area and to detonate explosives in sensitive locations. They are to avoid Iranian losses of life and collateral damage. Two Mossad A-Teams are already in operation inside Iran, close to the coast, having been deployed there by a submarine last week.

Russian senior air defense officers, accompanied by mid-level diplomats have recently visited Israel. The discussions focused on Iran and their contents are only partly know. Israel may be asking Russia to leverage its growing influence within Iran to rein in the latter’s nuclear weapons agenda. In return, Israeli sources claim that Israel has shared with the Russian visitors intelligence, including hard to obtain HUMINT, about the Iranian leadership, its oil economy, and military. The Americans were apprised of the discussions. Israel asked Russia not to supply Iran with strategic air defense systems “in the next 3 months” (presumably, until after Israel’s aerial bombardment on Iranian facilities). Russia remained non-committal, “noting” Israel’s concerns.

***

But Obama is merely implementing anti-Israeli plans hatched earlier:

Israel – The Next Target (Note: Written in 2005)
Its leader seems more comfortable in battle fatigues than in civil suits. He has been long pursuing a policy of bloody oppression and annexation. The regime is often castigated due to rampant human rights violations. The country possesses weapons of mass destruction, though it repeatedly denies the allegations. It refuses to honor numerous Security Council resolutions. President Bush senior once subjected it to sanctions. The United States is already training its sights on this next target: Israel.

The chieftains of the New World Order have made it abundantly clear that Iraq’s capitulation inexorably led to the official release of the much-leaked “road map” for peace in the Middle East propounded by the “Quartet” – the USA, UK, United Nations and Russia. A series of disclosures in the Israeli media made it equally evident that prime minister Ariel Sharon’s crew still beg to differ from substantial portions of the foursome’s vision. Instead, Sharon has come up with his Gaza Withdrawal First plan and his newfound amity with the post-Arafat Palestinian Authority.

***

Sanctioning Sharon (Note: Written in 2005)
In a bid to strengthen the hand of the newly elected Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, the Israelis have released hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and pulled, in March 2005, from Jericho and Tulkarm. In a significant change of heart, Hamas, the militant Palestinian organization, vowed to compete in future parliamentary elections and, thus, potentially, to repeat its impressive showing on the municipal level.

As the pro-war and anti-war camps are holding a string of summits, a consensus has emerged in Europe – including Britain – that the “road map” for peace in the Middle East would be a futile exercise without some “teeth”. Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation may prove to be the glue that reunites the fractious Euro-Atlantic structures.

But while the United State is reluctant to impose a settlement on the Israelis – the specter of sanctions against the Jewish state has re-emerged in the Old Continent’s corridors of power. A committee of the European Parliament is said to be laboring away at various scenarios of escalating sanctions against Israel. The European Commission may be readying its own proposals.